A drone is used to spray pesticides on rice fields in Soc Trang. (Photo: VNA) The Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta province also aims for the productionvalue of its farmland to be 240 million VND (9,800 USD) per hectare next year.
To reach the targets of next year, the province will continue torestructure agricultural production in 2021-2025 and develop value chains andconcentrated farming areas, use advanced farming techniques and high qualityfarming standards, develop production codes for farming areas and expandmarkets for agricultural products.
The province has about 280,300ha of farmland, accounting for 84%of its total area, which ranks fifth among the delta’s 12 provinces and Can Thocity.
It has favourable conditions for developing diversifiedagricultural products and sustainable agricultural production.
It has effectively implemented projects and plans whichrestructure agricultural production to suit each locality and will graduallyswitch from small-scale animal breeding to large-scale farms.
Relevant departments and agencies have tightened management of thequality of materials for agricultural production and diseases, focusing onimproving the quality of seeds and seedlings for cultivation to improve qualityand yield.
The province has taken measures to prevent and control saltwaterintrusion and drought this year to secure irrigation water for agriculturalproduction, and has treated erosion along rivers, canals and coasts to protectagricultural production and the safety of local people, according to itsDepartment of Agriculture and Rural Development.
Local authorities have encouraged farmers to restructure theircrop cultivation to improve income and proactively take measures to preventdiseases in animals, poultry and aquatic species.
The province gives priority to developing the cultivation of rice,brackish water shrimp, fruit, red onion, fresh water fish, and cattle for milkand meat.
It now has 475,862 animals, up 18% against the same period lastyear.
It grew 330,381ha of rice with an annual output of more than 2 milliontonnes this year, with high quality and specialty rice varieties accounting for93% of the output.
It also grew 47,000ha of vegetables and other short-term cropsthis year. It now has 28,910ha of fruit, up 1.6% against the same period lastyear. Of the fruit area, more than 13,000ha are planted under organic farmingmethods.
Huynh Ngoc Nha, director of the department, said sales of rice,vegetables and fruits were favourable this year and their selling prices werealso higher than last year.
The prices of rice are 6,000-8,000 VND a kilogramme, up 900-2,400VND against last year and farmers earn a profit of 20.5-23 million VND (840-950USD) per hectare, according to the director.
The prices of vegetables increased 2,000-7,000 VND a kilogramme thisyear compared to last year and the prices of fruits increased 2,000-38,000 VND akilogramme.
Soc Trang, which is one of the delta’s leading provinces inimplementing high-tech shrimp farming, has bred more than 50,100ha of brackishwater shrimp so far this year, meeting 9% of its target.
Farmers in the province have harvested more than 37,700ha ofbrackish water shrimp with a total output of 206,000 tonnes.
The province exported 695 million USD of seafood, mostly shrimp,in the first nine months of the year./.
VNA
